Updated: Ultra-slim bezel, IPS panel define affordable AOC monitor

Triple-screen setups are pretty awesome for gaming. There are some problems, though. The extra monitors add to the cost, of course, and it's impossible to escape the fact that bezels interrupt the image presented to the user. AOC has a new 23" monitor that addresses both concerns. Say hello to the "virtually borderless" i2367fh, which has a bezel just two millimeters thick and a street price of only $190.

Although the new model isn't yet listed on AOC's website, the display is already in stock at Amazon. The underlying panel looks promising, too. The press release posted by Engadet claims the IPS unit is an "FRC 8-bit panel that supports 16.7 million colors." FRC refers to Frame Rate Control, a technique often used to improve the color reproduction of 6-bit panels. Let's hope AOC doesn't think using FRC magically transforms 6-bit panels into 8-bit ones.

The specifications in the press release don't mention the display's luminance, but the contrast ratio is claimed to be 50,000,000:1, and the response time is pegged at 5 ms. As one might expect, this puppy has a 1080p display resolution. It also sports VGA and HDMI inputs, complete with HDCP support for the latter. There's a couple of 2W speakers, as well, but you'll probably want to leave those unplugged.

Update: Thanks to the commenters who pointed out that AOC may be playing games with semantics. Although the bezel surrounding the display glass is very thin, the actual picture doesn't begin until 10 mm from the edge of the glass, producing an effective bezel width of 12 mm. TFT Central's review of AOC's similar 27" model confirms the wider border and notes that the 27" panel is a 6-bit + FRC affair. If AOC is willing to be disingenuous about the width of the 23-incher's bezels, I wouldn't be surprised if the "8-bit" specification were also a stretch.